Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
Pelvic mesh panel convenes, Patient health records exposed online, SyntheMed and Pathfinder merge | MassDevice.com +3
Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three med-tech stories of the day. This latest feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our three biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else today, make sure you’re still in the know with Massdevice +3.
Data security: A rising problem for electronic health records
It was kind of funny reading this recent article from the New York Times that focuses on a relatively small health data breach from Stanford Hospital’s emergency room:
Health record breach at Stanford exposes thousands of patients | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Thousands of patient medical records from Stanford Hospital containing names and diagnosis codes were publicly exposed on a commercial website for nearly a year before being caught last month.
About 20,000 emergency room patient records were exposed on a website aimed at helping students find financial aid for school since Sept. 9, 2010 as a downloadable attachment.
The standards summer camp deliverables
On September 28 2011, the HIT Standards Committee (HITSC) will officially deliver to ONC its 6 months of hard work from Standards Summer Camp. HITSC subcommittees and workgroups have met every other day since April to prepare the standards recommendations needed to support Meaningful Use Stage 2 rule making.
The S&I Framework teams have been working in parallel on important issues – Certificates, Provider Directories, Lab Result Reporting, and Transfer of Care Summaries.
Cool technology of the week: Cheaper, lighter EHR systems
I recently received the press release below, which illustrates a cool trend in the healthcare IT industry.
eClinicalWorks and other EHR vendors have been piloting standard transport interfaces that are compatible with Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange transactions (pull/push) and Direct transactions (push).
Doctors learning to implant pacemaker wires can turn to PacerMan | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Doctors can practice implanting pacemaker lead wires into the heart with the PacerMan training simulation designed by Summa Health Systems.
Called PacerMan, the device is a model torso with a simulated blood-filled chamber in the chest cavity where a trainee practices inserting a pacemaker wire.
Former NIH head Bernadine Healy dies at 67 | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Dr. Bernadine Healy, the first woman to lead the National Institutes of Health and the first physician to lead the American Red Cross died from recurring brain cancer died over the weekend.
She battled brain cancer for 13 years before passing away at her home in Gates Mills, Ohio on Saturday. She was 67 years old.
Read the full story from the New York Times.
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Pacemakers: Light-controlled cardiac assistance
Creeping closer to the $1K genome
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Ion Torrent Systems Inc. developed a gene sequencing method that may be able to reach the target $1,000 genome, according to a study published in the journal Nature.
The Guilford, Conn.-based company published results of their sequencing technology, which uses semiconductors rather than the more common (and more expensive) optical technology to develop a technique that may be low cost, portable and scalable.
Hospital hack exposes more than 2,000 patient records
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is trying to make up for the exposure of more than 2,000 patients’ personal information that was hacked from a hospital computer.
The hospital told reporters that a computer repair vendor, who remains unnamed, failed to restore the computer’s security settings after servicing the machine. The computer was later found to have contracted a virus that snagged patient files and sent them to an unknown recipient.
Contingencies
* Bzzzzzaaaaapp *
Suddenly, the light went out. There was complete and utter darkness. Then, about 3 seconds later, the lights returned. My computer with its flat screen poised before me, remained dark. I hesitated a moment, then pushed the power button. Within a few more moments, the computer restarted. All seemed intact.
But what if it wasn’t?